“I heard that you were shipped off to the Commission for an internship, but it seems like they did quite the number on you.” Lucina commented curiously, sipping on her drink.

  “This is not the first time I’ve heard that.” Aurelius replied tiredly, recalling her comment from when they had visited this exact cafe in the previous loop.

  “I gotta say, I’m missing your scowling face these days. How’s the internship for you?” Tiberius quipped up, a mustache of cream painted on his upper lips from the overly sweet drink in his hands.

  It had been around 3 weeks since Aurelius had become an intern/slave to the Commission in this loop, and it had taken more toll on him than in any other loop.

  “I can think of one word to describe your internship.” Pultris started snidely.

  Aurelius was unable to seal Pultris until 2 o’clock if he were to follow his newly formed schedule dealing with the angel.

  After all, if he sealed himself off from Pultris too early, he would have to wake up at dawn with Pultris screaming in his mind about why he decided to seal him early.

  And if he sealed him late, he would get an earful from Mr. Tona for not using Pultris during his training. Therefore, Aurelius had maximised his quiet time by manually unsealing Pultris from 9am to 1pm and from 7pm to 12am every day.

  That allowed him to shut Pultris up a little bit in mid-day, while not compromising on his sleep. At least, that was supposed to be idea, if Pultris was not the WORST thing to keep you company.

  “Boring. You’re boring.” Pultris finished helpfully.

  Aurelius could only rub at his temples in irritation at the sheer absurdity of his life. His schedule meant that he had to push his shower up to 6pm just to avoid having Pultris peek at his damn balls.

  “It’s going fine! Thanks for asking!” Aurelius managed robotically through gritted teeth, jerking himself back up to face his friend and the dense idiot named Tiberius.

  “I didn’t think you’d be able to join us today.” Tiberius continued, making another round of cream to decorate his mustache as he sipped on his cocoa.

  “...Please eat the cream first, Tiberius.” Aurelius replied critically, feeling a fresh wave of frustration at Tiberius’s mind-boggling actions.

  While he would usually be ‘assisting’ Sage Yeltz by reading up on the archive materials and academic literature to expand his magical knowledge by now, she had dismissed him early today.

  And given that Sage Yeltz had made him read his ass off during the weekends as well, this ‘free time’ was truly a rare and precious moment.

  Therefore, Aurelius decided not to speculate about the reason for his time off after his dismissal that day, and hit up Tiberius to enjoy the time off with his… friend.

  And unfortunately for him, he ended up finding himself third wheeling another one of their godforsaken dates.

  It was truly depressing to think about the fact that spring had in fact come for someone like Tiberius while not even the hint of romance existed in the air for Aurelius.

  Perhaps he should actually try to pursue a romantic interest during one of his loops…

  “And I didn’t think that you’d bring her along.” Tiberius continued, pointing his spoon at the fourth figure seated at the table.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “I have a name, Mr. Velcor.” Seraphine said in annoyance, sipping at her own cup of coffee, looking surprisingly comfortable seated with what amounted to 2 strangers.

  “Is that your familiar, Seraphine?” Lucina asked, pointing towards Sylven seated gracefully on the table, and munching on a cookie.

  Seraphine nodded, staring critically at Sylven.

  “Did I not mention that eating food in your vessel will absolutely decrease the durability?” Seraphine chided Sylven, with the spirit familiar’s glassy eyes turning pitifully to face Seraphine.

  “...You don’t even need to eat! It’s not like you’ll taste all that much from the spirit realm.” Seraphine declared, guiltily averting her eyes from her familiar.

  Aurelius looked on in amusement, the visual of a mouse chowing down on a cookie at a fancy cafe like this proving to be quite the comedic scene.

  “Mmm it’s been a long time since I’ve eaten too.” Pultris added, making smacking sounds through the channel.

  This made Aurelius consider taking out his charm to shut this insufferable idiot up. This would come at the expense of his evening, but he considered it worth it if he could get through this relaxation time without the smartass.

  However, Aurelius lost the train of thought immediately when Tiberius opened his mouth.

  “The thing that I’m most curious about is… Are the two of you dating?” Tiberius asked, his brain’s density seemingly creating a phenomenon to create the gravitational pull to attract a beating.

  Aurelius immediately spat out half of his drink, and went into a coughing fit for the ages.

  “AHAHAHAHA” Pultris laughed hysterically in Aurelius’s head, increasing the level of his irritation to the extreme.

  Seraphine also blinked several times at the comment, her mouth agape in offense as she digested the question, calculating how she would respond to the… thoughtless question.

  Lucina, seeing the murderous intent rising from the two of them, immediately went to slap Tiberius in the face. A wise judgement befitting a diviner like her.

  If she hadn’t done that, it was likely that Lucina would have needed to find a… replacement for the formerly living Tiberius.

  “Tiberius! That was very rude!” She scolded, her slap creating a small smack sound in the cafe.

  “Ow! What was that fo- Mmph?!” Tiberius asked in confusion, reeling away from Lucina in horror.

  Lucina just followed, cupping his face with her hands to stop more stupidity flowing out of her man’s mouth.

  Aurelius seethed in his seat, his face becoming redder by the minute, and Seraphine inched away from Aurelius slightly, her brain evidently buffering from the sheer ridiculousness of the question.

  “Oh please tell me that we’re seeing more of him!” Pultris cried out in delight, laughter still ringing through Aurelius’s mind.

  Aurelius promptly grabbed a hold of his charm in his pocket and tapped it once spitefully, cutting Pultris completely off from himself.

  It would be another minute before Tiberius was graciously returned to his seat, still completely unaware of his crimes.

  And amidst the awkward sips of tea and coffee, Seraphine finally found the words to respond to Tiberius.

  “Aurelius is my colleague right now, and it’s only natural for me to maintain a good relationship with him. Also, more importantly, he’s the one that asked me to join him!” She started, narrowing her eyes skeptically at Aurelius.

  Aurelius made a ‘surrender’ gesture, shaking his head in disbelief at the blatant, bald-faced lie.

  She had asked him what he was doing this afternoon, and decided to tag along to the cafe after hearing HIS answer! He had not ONCE asked her to join him!

  “You li-” Aurelius started, only to be cut off by Seraphine.

  “Also, I’m suspicious of Aurelius.” She continued, politely ignoring Aurelius’s attempts to explain himself to his friends.

  “Ms. Yeltz seems very interested in him for some reason, and she just won’t tell me why! I was wondering if you guys would know anything about that?” She asked, staring pointedly at Tiberius.

  “...Cough.” Tiberius coughed, his eyes darting around at max speed.

  “I would hate to ruin the mood by asking so many questions. But I do hope that you’ll tell me what Aurelius did someday!” Seraphine said smoothly, smiling widely and reassuringly at Tiberius.

  This earned a small glare from Lucina, who edged slightly closer to a still flustered Tiberius.

  “And that is the main reason that I’ve come to the cafe along with Aurelius.”

  “But I’ve also been meaning to find a good, well-priced cafe for a small celebration of my own as well.” She continued, stirring her coffee and picking up a cookie leisurely.

  “Oh? What’s the occasion?” Lucina asked curiously, a trace of hostility still clearly inlaid with the question.

  Aurelius looked towards Seraphine curiously, wondering if it was her birthday or something…

  With a tired look flashing across her face, Seraphine declared her achievement blandly.

  “I’ve become a second layer mage.”